Let’s put the spotlight on Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans.
With the 2024 season firmly in the rearview mirror and the pre-draft process, free agency, the draft itself, OTAs and mini-camp also behind us, it’s time to ramp up the excitement for training camp and then, of course, the Bucs’ 50th season. As we did last summer, we’ll spend the weeks leading up to training camp focusing on some storylines and narratives surrounding some of Tampa Bay’s biggest stars in 2025.
We started last week with quarterback Baker Mayfield, then stayed in the backfield with Bucky Irving and Rachaad White. Now, it’s time to wade into the wide receiver room and focus on future Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Evans.
Will Mike Evans’ Streak Of 1,000-Yard Seasons Reach 12?
The 2024 season saw a bit of a slow start for Mike Evans, then he left the Bucs’ Week 7 loss to the Ravens with an injury that would cost him the next three games. At that point, it felt like Evans’ 1,000-yard season streak was all but officially dead.
But then Evans returned in Week 12 and went on a tear, finishing with 669 yards over his final seven games. That all culminated with one of the moments of the season, which saw Baker Mayfield get the ball to him one last time late in the team’s Week 18 win over the Saints. With that, Evans extended his streak of 1,000-yard seasons to an NFL-record-tying 11 years, evening him up with the great Jerry Rice.
Evans has said how special it is to share that record with Rice, the greatest receiver of all time. But now that 2025 is rolling around, it’s time for the greatest Bucs receiver ever to try his hand at surpassing Rice with a 12th straight 1,000-yard season.
Evans would surely prefer to fly past the 1,000-yard mark early, doing so some time in earlier December rather than leaving it late and getting there on the season’s final day. Buccaneer fans want that record 12th straight 1,000-yard season for Evans, and you know his teammates want it for him, too. And while Evans is the ultimate team-first guy, there certainly has to be part of him that wants that record all to himself.
Can he get there? While factors exist that might work against him (his age, health and the plethora of weapons on the offense around him, especially with the addition of Emeka Egbuka), it would feel foolish to bet against the best offensive player in franchise history, especially in the franchise’s 50th season.
If Evans can have another 1,000-yard season, that’ll give him the longest streak in NFL history, and he’ll have it all to himself. But another 1,000+ yards could also propel him close to the top 15 for the league’s all-time receiving yards leaders. He is 24th all-time right now with 12,684, so another, say, 1,100 yards would give him 13,784.
That would be good enough for 14th all-time. He’d pass Art Monk, Irving Fryar, DeAndre Hopkins, and Jason Witten on his way into the top 20, then he’d move ahead of Steve Largent, Andre Reed, Torry Holt, Julio Jones, Henry Ellard and Anquan Boldin to get to 14th.
Evans’ Pro Football Hall of Fame resume is strong as it is. But he can build on it even more in 2025.
Is Father Time Going To Catch Up With Mike Evans At All In 2025?
As was the case with former Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, this will continue to be a question surrounding Mike Evans each year until the end of his career. And it’s not a question asked from a place of doubt. It’s more so a testament to Evans’ continued success in the face of the expectations placed on receivers (and players in general) who are getting into their 30s.
It’s an accepted reality that “Father Time is undefeated,” but some guys land their share of punches on Father Time first. Brady did that, and Lavonte David has done it, too. Evans is another guy who falls into that category. He posted 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns in his age-30 season in 2023, and despite missing three games and parts of another in his age-31 season, Evans still put up 1,004 yards and 11 touchdowns a year ago.
Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today
Evans turns 32 years old in August, and as of now, he’s showing no signs of slowing down. Will that finally change in 2025? As inevitable as time and age are, it’s hard to bet against Tampa Bay’s 2014 first-round pick and future Ring of Honor member. For one thing, he takes care of his body exceptionally well and has spoken about some of the things he picked up from Brady, who played until the age of 45, while they were teammates for three years.
Not only that, but Evans is far from the only weapon on the Buccaneer offense, which may allow the team to manage him better than ever in his 12th NFL season. Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka and presumably Tez Johnson are the next four receivers on the depth chart behind Evans, which is an embarrassment of riches for quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay offense. So, there’s no need to have the 32-year-old carrying the offense the way he had to at times earlier in his career.
Yet he’ll probably find a way to do so anyway.
Will Any Clarity Come About On Mike Evans’ Future Beyond 2025?
Mike Evans signed a two-year deal back in 2024 to remain with the Bucs, and there was a lot of talk at the time about making sure he remains a Buc for life. This season is the second of that two-year deal, so he’s due for a new contract, right? Will Tampa Bay explore the possibility of an extension before the 2025 season begins? Or will the best offensive player in team history once again play out the final year of his contract before settling on a new one next spring?
After Evans signed a two-year deal, it was widely theorized that once that contract ran its course, he would start going year-to-year with one-year agreements the way Lavonte David has before him. Maybe that is the case and we’ll see the first of those one-year contracts signed early in 2026, locking him in for his age-33 season before reevaluating where things stand ahead of 2027.
Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
The question doesn’t seem to be whether Evans will play in 2026, and it doesn’t even seem to be whether it’ll be for the Bucs. Both of those things feel like foregone conclusions.
But there was a time a couple of years ago when David came right out and said he was at a point where he was taking things year by year. Will we get such an admission from Evans in the next six or seven months? Beyond that, will we get any clarity on how much longer he plans to play?
This isn’t to say that Evans has to come out and share his plans because he doesn’t owe that to anyone, even the Bucs. It’s a business, after all, so he may want to keep things to himself. But it’s fair to wonder. Bucs fans definitely aren’t looking forward to the day when Evans hangs up his cleats. But the deeper and deeper he gets into his 30s, the sooner it’s coming.
For now, though, the focus simply has to be on appreciating the greatness of Mike Evans while he is still in red and pewter. And getting him a second Super Bowl ring certainly wouldn’t hurt matters, either.